Dennis Beal provides statistical support for the Department of Energy (DOE) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where Lockheed Martin Energy Systems operates three plants owned by the DOE. The plants are the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Y-12 Weapons Plant and the K-25 site. He is one of five statisticians who provide statistical consulting primarily to the K-25 Site, but also to a lesser extent to the two other DOE sites. He has been with Lockheed Martin for six years, joining them after working part-time at Oak Ridge during the last year of his graduate studies.
Working with the Centers for Waste Management and Environmental Technology, he principally assists in the environmental restoration projects at the K-25 Site. His group writes sampling plans which direct the samplers where and how to collect samples from drums of waste, piles of contaminated dirt, and open areas where wastes, such as nuclear material, are buried. Then he analyzes the resulting data and produces statistical studies and written reports. The statistical results often of interest are confidence intervals and tolerance intervals used to characterize a population of environmental media. The statistics group also helps the analytical laboratory on site with their control charts and provides input and direction as needed. The types of environmental data analyzed include ground water from wells located on site, surface water, soil, sludge, ash, air and ozone concentrations. Since environmental data do not typically meet the assumptions for classical statistical methods, he also actively engages in applied research on the latest methods for analyzing this data. Subscribing to several statistical journals and attending conferences allows him to keep current in this rapidly developing area of statistics.
Dennis has a M.S. in statistics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a M.S. in applied mathematics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State College, and a B.A. in mathematics from Carson-Newman College. He became interested in statistics when he took a few statistics courses while working on his master's in mathematics at VPI. Knowing that he wanted to work in an applied area, he decided to obtain a degree in statistics immediately after finishing his master's in mathematics. His part-time work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory gave him insight into the demands of working in applied statistics, introduced him to the types of deadlines and deliverables that are part of the business, and gave him the opportunity to work with real data and applications.
Nearly everything he studied in statistics is useful for performing his job. His study of statistical theory helps him derive statistical properties from an experimental design and his study of regression models helps him build appropriate models. Other courses that proved useful were time series, sampling techniques and multivariate analysis. Communication skills play an important part in his job since he is expected to write both technical and non- technical reports. He finds it is necessary to help his customers interpret properly the results from the statistical analysis. Documenting the sampling and analysis of the data includes how a result was obtained and what inferences can be made on the population from the sample. He believes that obtaining a masters degree opens up many more career opportunities and applications in statistics. He encourages students to seek out part-time or co-op experiences that will give them an opportunity to work with realistic applied problems.
Return to Archived Profiles and Forums